17 dead, over 50 injured in Egypt clashes (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

A picture taken on January 3, 2014 shows a vehicle burning after it was torched by protesters using petrol bombs in the upscale Maadi neighbourhood of Cairo, following clashes between supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, police and opponents. (AFP Photo / Khaled Kamel)

At least 17 people have been killed across Egypt in a wave of protests, which saw demonstrators clashing with police forces. Over 50 other people were injured in the violence.

Cairo, Alexandria, and Fayoum and Ismailia have all seen deadly
scuffles as the Muslim Brotherhood-led National Coalition to
Support Legitimacy organized protests on Friday.

The protests were part of the Brotherhood's boycott of the
upcoming constitutional referendum.

A security official told AP that 17 people died across the
country, with 58 people injured nationwide. The Muslim
Brotherhood places the death toll at 19.

In addition, authorities arrested 122 Brotherhood members for
possession of weapons, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The Egyptian government has vowed to confront the Muslim
Brotherhood with "full force".

In Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, police wearing bulletproof vests
used tear gas to disperse demonstrators who threw rocks, set
tires on fire and assaulted police lines.

Security forces also fired teargas at the nearby Al-Azhar
University where a number of students were marching.

Brotherhood supporters set the Faculty of Agriculture building at
the university on fire and damaged administrative offices inside
before police stepped in, Al-Ahram reported.

Also, law enforcement used teargas against 300 pro-Brotherhood
stone-throwing supporters near the High Administrative Court
building in the southern suburb of Maadi.

The county’s Health Ministry announced that five activists were
killed in different districts in Cairo. A security source told
Reuters, that they died from bullet wounds but it remains unclear
as to who shot them: police or fellow rioters.

A man was also killed by the protesters next to his house, when
he insulted the Brotherhood rally.

Deadly clashes also erupted in Alexandria when Islamists clashed
with civilians using stones and birdshot before police intervened
to stop the violence. A male protester and a woman were shot
dead, medical sources announced.

Another demonstrator was killed by police in the Suez Canal city
of Ismailia in clashes that happened near a mosque after midday
prayers.

In Fayoum, three protesters, including a student, died from
gunshot wounds, while another university student was shot in the
town of Minya.

Witnesses in Giza told Al-Ahram that protesters had thrown
Molotov cocktails at an armored police vehicle, setting it on
fire, and shot at police officers trying to escape from the car.

In the meantime, four soldiers were injured by a roadside bomb
targeting a military convoy in the North Sinai area.

The pro-camp of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi rejects the
new constitution that was amended in July following a military
coup.

Egypt’s interim government set January 14 as the start of a
two-day referendum on a new Constitution.

Furthermore, Egypt froze the assets of 132 senior Brotherhood
members following a court decree in September which banned the
Islamist movement.

On Wednesday, an additional 572 Brotherhood members had their
assets frozen by the state which also took over 87 schools run by
the Brotherhood.

Although the Muslim Brotherhood may not be ideal but they were
elected and the prospects for democracy in Egypt now are
virtually non-existent, Ivan Eland, a political analyst at the
Peace and Liberty Center, told RT.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is no ideal group of people but if
Egypt is to be moved to democracy, I think they’ll probably have
to be let to rule Egypt. But of course they’re not being allowed
to rule and the military has taken over and it seems they’re
harsher than even the Mubarak regime, So I don’t see much public
support in Egypt for the military government,” he said.